


Stuckony Soulmate AU

by LittleMissLouboutin



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Explicit Language, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-03-10 11:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 4,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13501218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissLouboutin/pseuds/LittleMissLouboutin
Summary: Antonio Edward Stark was born on May 29th, a day that would go down in history for many reasons.It was the day that the free world celebrated the birth of a legacy.It was the day Maria Stark first held her son.It was the day Maria Stark last held her son.It was the day that Howard Stark took one look at his newborn's soul mark and screamed at a poor nurse to "cover the damn thing," and promptly left the room.





	1. Chapter 1

Antonio Edward Stark was born on May 29th, a day that would go down in history for many reasons.

It was the day that the free world celebrated the birth of a legacy.

It was the day Maria Stark first held her son.

It was the day Maria Stark last held her son.

It was the day that Howard Stark took one look at his newborn's soul mark and screamed at a poor nurse to "cover the damn thing," and promptly left the room. 

It was the day that Edwin Jarvis fell in love with a tiny little boy with wise brown eyes and the world's softest skin who was too young to realize just how wronged he'd been. 

"It's okay, young sir. You're never alone."


	2. Chapter 2

Antonio, or Tony as Jarvis has taken to calling him, exceeds all expectations by the time he's four and builds his first circuit board.

Jarvis hugs him tight to his chest tells him that he's so good and so brilliant and that Jarvis treasures every moment he gets to spend with him. Jarvis presses a kiss to the top of his always messy curls and tells him to never change.

Ma'am keeps a sharp grip on his shoulder as they are photographed for the magazines, nails digging into Tony's collar bone and leaving crescent moons in his skin, and tells him to sit still for once. Sir leaves a bright red hand print on the his face and yells drunkenly that it should have been him, that Tony's not worthy of his soulmates or his intellect; he stole them both from Howard.


	3. Chapter 3

Peggy Carter, or Aunt Peggy as he's come to know her, crashes into his life when he's five, and he loves her instantly.

The first time he meets Aunt Peggy she swoops him up into her arms and tosses him into the air. For a moment he's scared, but then she catches him and twirls them both in a circle. Her smile is one of the brightest things Tony's ever seen and he can't help but smile back at her.

Aunt Peggy calls him "ducky" and at first Tony's confused because he is fairly certain that he is not a duck, but he decides that he'll let her call him anything so long as she keeps saying it like that. Like she cares. Like he's special to her.

Here, sitting at a table between Jarvis and Aunt Peggy, he figures out that being special is a drug in and of itself.


	4. Chapter 4

Before Aunt Peggy leaves, before Tony latches onto her leg and sobs _don't go, please don't leave me,_ Aunt Peggy gives him a gift.

It's a book, and Tony is skeptical because he doesn't really like books because they're boring and because, no matter how many etiquette lessons Ma'am has sent him to, he's never been too good at sitting still. 

It's not his fault, Ma'am doesn't understand, his brain starts to hurt if he can't get the ideas out. 

Regardless, he smiles and thanks her. She then sits him down and reads him the story of Captain America, of Steve Rogers.

"You're a lot like him, ducky. Brilliant, clever, and you have a heart too big for the world."

Tony adores Steve because he may have been small, just like Tony, but he became mighty. 

Tony decides that he, too, will be mighty.


	5. Chapter 5

Tony is six when Ma'am and Sir go on a trip overseas, which normally means he gets to stay with Jarvis, but this time he's told that he gets to go to Aunt Peggy's house for the three months they're gone.

He's never been to Aunt Peggy's house, so excitement courses through his veins. He packs all his comics, his Bucky Bear, and his onesie that looks just like Steve's suit, look Jarvis and waits in the car for an hour because he packed too quickly and the chauffer has to drop Ma'am and Sir at the airport first. 

Aunt Peggy's house is super small compared to his, but he likes it because it's not so quiet. Aunt Peggy's house doesn't have maids or butlers, but it's always alive somehow. Aunt Peggy always has music playing and she lets him stand on her toes as she teaches him to swing dance. 

She tells him that Steve once promised to take her dancing, and for some unexplained reason everything in Tony suddenly feels like it's hot, red, and heavy; deep down he knows his jealousy is irrational, that it's not Aunt Peggy's fault that Steve never asked him to dance, but it burns though him and before he knows it he's slamming the door to his (the guest) room with fat tears flowing down his face. His mind yells at him to knock it off, to let Aunt Peggy in from where she's knocking at his door, but his heart, burning hot in his chest, adamantly refuses to listen. He scrambles to the bed and pulls Bucky to his chest, lets his tears drip onto the brown fur and green army uniform. _Fine_ , his heart shouts, _Peggy can have Steve, we don't need him, we have Bucky_. It calms him slightly, but somehow it feels like he's missing half of himself; it's an empty feeling that he's only ever felt before when Sir slams the workshop door in Tony's face or destroys one of his creations. 

"Tony, I'm coming in," he hears Aunt Peggy say. His heart lets out a small whimper for her not to, but ultimately his body feels rusted and immovable.

"Tony, ducky, are you okay?" she asks.

He's not sure how to tell her that he feels like he's dying inside, so they sit in silence until Tony feels the pain dull to numbness. 

"Did Steve love you?" he asks in a voice so small that Ma'am would have slapped him for mumbling.

And Peggy laughs, which only makes Tony feel rage because _Steve's love is no joke, how dar-_

"God no, I'll let you in on a little secret, ducky."

He does like secrets, "What?"

"Steve and Bucky were in love," she tells him, "so in love that they could practically read each other's minds."

He braces himself for the rush of jealousy from before, but it never comes. In fact the heaviness in his chests lifts and he feels himself practically vibrate with happiness. 

"Really?" he questions, his voice awed. 

"Yes, and their love helped us win the war."


	6. Chapter 6

When Tony is seven he's sent to boarding school "to straighten out his act," and thusly begins another series of firsts.

It is at Ridgeview Preparatory Academy that he first learns about soulmates. Most people have them, some people don't, and some super lucky people even have more than one. He's so excited that he calls Jarvis that very night and tells him that he can't wait to meet his soulmate, and that he hopes he has more than one because then he'd never have to be by himself. 

To Tony's surprise, Jarvis tells him, in a stern voice that he's never heard before, never to let anyone see his soul mark. Tony doesn't understand, _how is he supposed to find his soulmate if no one knows his mark_ , but he agrees amicably because it's _Jarvis_ and he'd do anything that Jarvis asked of him. 

Ridgeview is also where Tony first meets other kids his age, and, to his surprise, they're not mean to him. They've all heard of him, though he's never heard of them, and his lunch table is more full than any other in the cafeteria. 

His teachers are less kind, and not particularly fond of him correcting them even though he's not yet been wrong. 

They call it _talking back_. 

He calls it _feedback_.

He gets detention a lot because he's never been good at keeping his mouth shut about his opinions (especially when he's right); he hates detention because he's even worse at sitting still now than he was at five, and because he's often the only one there. He can't even do any work either because his teacher, the young art teacher named Ms. Tiffani, keeps all his stuff up at the front of the classroom. 

(Ms. Tiffani is Tony's least favorite teacher because she reeks of cheap perfume, has a nasally voice, and doesn't like that he "has no appreciation for abstract art.")


	7. Chapter 7

It's a normal Friday night for Tony. He's in his solo dorm room working on his blueprints, listening to an audio book on a cassette tape ( _The Untold Adventures of Captain America and The Howling Commandos_ ), and eating the reheated _Pasta e fagioli_ that Jarvis had sent him. Fridays are Tony's favorite days because it’s the one day a week that he gets to have Jarvis food instead of Cafeteria food. 

He's just made a breakthrough on a smaller record type of disc (so that he'd be able to take Steve and Bucky everywhere) that he's called a Compact Disc, or CD for short, when there's a knock at his door. 

He quickly stows his plans (in case it's Howard his mind whispers) and opens the door.

"Oh, good evening Principal Truman."

Principal Truman gives him an stern look and steps into Tony's room, revealing a straight faced Howard Stark.

Tony braces himself for impact.

Howard lays a hand on his shoulder and says, "Looks like you're going to be a man after all."

"What do-" Toney starts.

"Tony there have been reports that you are sexually harassing a teacher at this school," Principal Truman interrupts. 

"Sexually what? Sir, I have no idea what you're talking about," Tony exclaims.

Principal Truman huffs, "Well than you won't mind us taking a look on your bag, will you?"

Tony typically didn't start his homework until Saturday, not wanting to taint his "Jarvis day," so the bag in question lay on his bed, still untouched from when he'd tossed it there after detention. 

"Whatever."

Howard's hand tightens. 

The principal makes his way to Tony's (limited edition Captain America) backpack and dumps its contents on to his (Star Spangled Man with a Plan™) duvet. At first, Tony doesn't notice anything amiss amidst the usual crumpled notebook paper, powder yellow detention slips, worn down eraser-less pencils, and bent spiral notebooks. 

The principal roots around in the mess, knocking Tony's Bucky Bear off the bed (it pangs hurt somewhere deep inside his chest to see him fall) and pulls out some polaroids that Tony's never seen before. 

"How do you explain these, young man?" the principal asks, thrusting the stack of pictures towards him.

The images are vulgar to say the least. Pictures of, from what he can assume from the skintight leopard print skirt, Ms. Tiffani's rather large butt. 

"I've never seen those before." he states. The principal huffs, clearly disbelieving.

"We're going to my office" he says, and leaves Tony and Howard in the room.

Tony braces himself for the inevitable slap, but to his surprise Howard pats him on the back

"Good on you boy," he cackles, "you picked a hot one."

In Principal Truman's office Ms. Tiffani is waiting, blue marks running down her cheeks from where her fake tears carried her garish eyeshadow. Tony and Howard are then presented with a note, _since when was there a note_ , that details exactly how "pretty" he thinks Ms. Tiffani's "boobies" are, and how he's really like to touch her "booty". 

Ms. Tiffani cries some more, claiming that he must have learned these inappropriate things from his father, like Howard spends any time with him. The man in question doesn't even seem offended by the remark, even going as far as to say that Ms. Tiffani should be flattered. 

They don't care. They don't care that this note is written with handwriting that is way too nice to be his. They don't care that he reads at a college level and the person who wrote the note misspelled "sexie". 

He's being framed. He's being framed with _bad vocabulary_ and _bad spelling_. He doesn't know what to be more angry about, that people clearly believe he wrote this trash or that whoever framed him is either less intelligent than him or didn't actually try that hard.

Tony gets expelled.

Ms. Tiffani takes him to court. 

Headlines on every newspaper and magazine talk about the "Playboy Stark Heir" and his illicit affair with his "beautiful young art teacher."

His lawyer says that he "simply couldn't help himself."

Howard cuts Ms. Tiffani a check for a hundred thousand dollars and it all goes away.


	8. Chapter 8

Since he was seven and Howard deemed him "too old for a babysitter," Tony always spends Christmas alone in the Stark manor. It's completely devoid of lights and festive décor, Maria had requested it be taken down after the annual Stark Christmas party so the mansion could be set up for the annual Stark New Year's Eve party. 

Jarvis spends his holidays with his family in Oregon, he and his wife Anna had left a two weeks ago after ensuring that the nine year old had enough food to last the next three weeks. They gave him warm hugs and a box of Ms. Anna's famous chocolate chip cookies before departing to the airport.

He received his gift from Aunt Peggy yesterday, and because no one was there to stop him, he opened it immediately. Inside the neatly wrapped box was two copies of the Christmas edition of _The Adventures of Captain America and The Howling Commandos_. Aunt Peggy knows him so well that she always gives him a collector's edition (that will join its brethren in the temperature controlled protective display case that he made) and one for reading.

Snow falls from the sky outside, but the air in the house is still and unmoving. Tears track down Tony's cheeks as he wallows in his loneliness, wishing that he could just tumble into the pages of the book and never return.


	9. Chapter 9

He has a privet tutor for the next five years. A man, because he "can't be trusted," named Mr. Roberts. 

Mr. Roberts is _boring_. So boring, in fact, that Tony just reads ahead in all his textbooks so that he can skip grades because he's a genius and he simply can't stand spending any time with Mr. Roberts at all. 

Consequently, he has completed all of primary schooling by the time he's thirteen. 

He has his sights set on MIT, and Howard is more than happy to send him away to his alma mater with joking warnings to "behave" himself. 

Tony's never really had any friends except his robots, all of which Howard had brutally murdered and Tony had pitifully mourned ( _robotics is a waste of time, boy, weapons run the world_ ). He's glad to be away from home again, where Howard can't touch his creations or steal his designs, but he _is_ hopeful that he might actually make some new friends (of the human variety). 

He is given his own room because his father still tries to pretend that he cares for Tony's wellbeing, and for the first time since Ridgeview he gets to decorate it as he pleases. He hangs up two beautiful framed paintings of Steve and Bucky that he'd bought off of Etsy under his mother's nose, and makes sure that the pressure seals on his comic cases are in working order. He then proceeds to cover every available surface in his room with tools and blueprints, including his bed because he doesn't anticipate using it too much. 

On his first night, against both his and Jarvis's better judgement, he goes to a frat party. He immediately is not a fan of 99% of the people there, too loud and clumsy for his tastes, but he decides to go with it in hopes of making some friends. 

He spots a bowl of punch in the kitchen, and despite knowing that it was probably spiked with alcohol, he decides that a little probably won't hurt. He takes a sip and gags, the liquid is far stronger than he'd anticipated and it makes him feel nauseous. Tony makes a beeline for the nearest sink to spit the liquid out, and then tosses out his cup. It's not for him. 

He wanders around the party for a few more hours (read: 30 minutes) before making up his mind to leave. On his way out he spots a man dragging a stumbling and scantily dressed girl to his car; the girl makes weak efforts to shove the guy off of her before nearly collapsing. He really doesn't want to get involved, but he know Steve would have if he were here. 

"Hey!" He shouts at the couple.

The guy's head turn towards him and scoffs, "Get lost, kiddo, this is grownup business, you can't understand."

"I understand just fine, and I'm going to have to ask you to let that girl go, or else." Tony tries to keep his voice even despite how uncomfortable he was since he'd never practiced this particular social interaction in his shower. 

"Or else what? You're going to bruise my ankles?" the guy taunted.

Right before he'd come to MIT, Aunty Peggy had taught him taught him some basic self-defense. 

Right before he'd come to MIT, Uncle Nick had also given him a keychain sized can of bear repellant. 

Tony rummaged around in his pockets for the can, pulling out three hex keys, scraps of metal, and wires before finding the (only slightly linty) can. 

"The fuck do you think you're doing?" Mr. Douche-Face asked.

Tony pointed the can at the man, "Last chance man; a guy with an eyepatch gave this to me, and I'm willing to bet that this isn't real bear repellant."

The man scoffed, "Whatever man," and let the girl drop to the ground, "I'll find another"

Like hell you will, Tony thought as he pressed the button. 

Ah, just as he'd suspected- _not bear repellent_. A green mist spewed from the nozzle directly into the assailant's face, causing his eyes to roll back in his head and his body to drop lifelessly into the dirt. _Sure hope he's not dead, that'd be less than ideal._

He redeposited the can into his pocket and bent down to help the girl to her feet.

"Ma'am? Are you okay?" he asked.

The girl blinked up at him and burst into a fit of giggles. _Great._

"Ma'am? I need you to tell me where you live so I can return you safely." he tried.

It was like talking to a rock; a really _really_ high rock. But he couldn't just leave her. Tony huffed, and pulled the girl to her feet; he'd let her sleep off whatever the guy had given her in his dorm and send her home in the morning.


	10. Chapter 10

Uncle Nick had once told him that no good deed went unpunished. Before his dazzling "first night at college," Tony probably would've disagreed, citing eyeless-ness and old age for Uncle Nick's cynicism. With the benefit of hindsight, Tony should've listened. 

His _misdeeds_ were all over the news the next morning. 

_Billionaire, Genius, Philanthropist, and PLAYBOY!?_

_Stark Industries heir gets WASTED at college frat party!_

_Womanizer Tony Stark is back at it again!_

_Mindy Turning tells all about her wild night with Stark!_

Aunt Peggy had woken him up with her calls at noon the day after the party. He'd gotten off of the floor, where he'd slept last night after depositing the drugged girl on the bed, and had been rudely jarred out of his still-half-asleep state by Peggy screaming something along the lines of "ANTHONY EDWARD STARK, YOU BETTER EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"

He honestly wished he could.


	11. Chapter 11

After that, though he'd never gone to another party, frat or otherwise, his reputation as a party king took off. Every Monday blurry photos of wasted people who were way-too-tall or way-too-underdressed to be him popped up on gossip rags with all sorts of ostentatious headlines. Women and men, whom he'd never met before, were all over news headlines talking about how legendary he was in bed just to make a quick buck. Tony was disgusted. 

All he wanted to do was work on his inventions in peace.

And just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, they did. 

Tony was returning from his Engineering Design class when a large figure cornered him into a wall. He tried to scramble for his bear spray, but the figure ripped the canister out of his hand.

"Hey baby, why don't you just calm down," They man spoke tersely, and tightened his grip on Tony's hands, "This can go one of two ways. You can be a good boy and cooperate or I can make this a very unpleasant experience for you."

Tony stilled momentarily, trying to gather his wits. This wasn't the first time someone had held him against his will and he'd managed to escape on his own every other time (because he knew full well that Howard would rather eat his own teeth than pay ransom to get him back). 

"Good, now here is what you're going to do; You're going to tell me exactly where your soulmark is, and then you are going to let me take a few photos. If you're really good, maybe I will even show you a good time afterwards, I know you're a slut for it." 

Like hell Tony was going to let him do that.

Tony began to fight; kicking, punching, scratching, biting at anything he could reach. The man holding him swore loudly and leapt back only to sock him really hard in the face just a second later. Tony's vision went temporarily black and he could feel his nose crack and begin to leak fluids under the force of the man's swing. His head hit the wall behind him and he dropped to the ground.

"Fucking slut, just lay there and take it like the bitch you are," The man roared as he got on top of Tony's dazed form. He began to rip at Tony's clothes, abandoning the camcorder that he'd been holding next to Tony's bloodied face.

Against his better judgement, Tony felt tears begin to leak from his eyes. How messed up was he that he cared more about the fact that he was inadvertently betraying Jarvis's command to never let anyone see his soulmarks than he did about the fact that he was about to be raped?

Tony hoped against all hope that Jarvis would still talk to him after this.

The man continued to struggle with his shirt, trying to pry it off despite Tony's passive resistance, "Hell, I bet a little skank like you doesn't even have a soulmate, no one deserves to be stuck with trash the likes of you. Pathetic."

"Hey!" A new, angry voice approached.

Tony's assailant froze, "Hey man, sorry you had to see this but the slut was just asking for it. Kinky little fucker isn't he? Begged me to take him right here where anyone could see. You're welcome to join."

Tony's face contracted in disgust, and he spit the blood that he's been gathering in his mouth at the man on top of him. He couldn't really see the second man, but he shot a pleading look in (what he assumed was) his direction. 

In a second the assailant was ripped off of him, and Tony took great pleasure in the sounds of fists on flesh. He laid there, praying for it all to end, when he was suddenly lifted into a pair of arms. Tony panicked, flailing his arms and legs in an attempt to get free.

"Woah, woah, woah; I'm not going to hurt you!" 

Ah, so his savior had clearly won the fight. 

"S-Sorry, I just- I'm not myself right now," Tony apologized.

"I can't imagine you would be considering what I just saw," the man placed him gently on a small park bench and stuck out his hand to shake, "Name's Rhodes, James Rhodes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for how long it took me to get this chapter up (and for how awkward this author's note is, I've never written one before).
> 
> Thank you all for the support you've shown this story thus far, I promise I will have some more light-hearted chapters in the future before I start beating Tony up again (even though he's an angel and deserves THE WORLD).
> 
> Also. I apologize if some of the swearing feels a bit awkward? I personally don't really swear and so all swearing just sounds weird to me; I couldn't tell if this dialog would sound cumbersome to anyone else or if it's just a personal issue.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


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